Let's Talk About the Faith

David Poole Charles

Description

History keeps happening. Truth remains. Fitting together the ever-changing history and the continuing truth is a challenge for every generation. Fitting the eternal truth of Jesus, his teachings, and his events into our contemporary scientific and technological age calls for honesty and courage. This brief treatise is an invitation for the various disparate groups of sincere followers of Jesus to respond to the need to come together, to agree, and sometimes agree to disagree about the significance today of the Christ events of more than two thousand years ago. While different views will always prevail within the different denominations of Christianity, that being a good and healthy thing when such differences are shared openly and in good faith, it will always be admirable and helpful to all when mutual respect is shared, when members of each denomination or sect are prayerfully supportive of all others. This little book will possibly offend some Christians. Let us accept that and respond with such views as that represent our differences. And let all of our dialogues be shared in gracious love.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 30 avril 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781645367772
• Langue: English

Extrait

Let’s Talk About the Faith
Charles David Poole
Austin Macauley Publishers
2019-04-30
Let’s Talk About the Faith About the Author About the Book Dedication Copyright © Introduction God The same yesterday, today, and always Jesus Emanuel, Logos Jesus and the Cross The Return of Jesus The Trinity Spirit Abandoned to the Spirit Comforted by the Spirit Life with the Holy Spirit Peace with the Holy Spirit Power with the Holy Spirit Fruits of the Spirit Grace of God Means of Grace Mercy Prayer Judgment Our Judgments Salvation The Bible Worship The Body Body and Spirit United Church in the Home Diversity Within the Body Life in Today’s Church Membership The Way of God Faith Virtue Knowledge Self-Control Steadfastness Godliness Friendship Love Message Hope Mission Apostleship as Relationship Apostleship as Belief Apostleship as Giving Conclusion
About the Author
The author is a retired United Methodist pastor, having served in Arizona, Georgia, and California. He is a graduate of Arizona State University, and of Candler School of Theology, Emory University. He is married to Ann Elaine (Brashear) Poole and has three daughters and a son.
About the Book
History keeps happening. Truth remains. Fitting together the ever-changing history and the continuing truth is a challenge for every generation. Fitting the eternal truth of Jesus, his teachings, and his events into our contemporary scientific and technological age calls for honesty and courage. This brief treatise is an invitation for the various disparate groups of sincere followers of Jesus to respond to the need to come together, to agree, and sometimes agree to disagree about the significance today of the Christ events of more than two thousand years ago. While different views will always prevail within the different denominations of Christianity, that being a good and healthy thing when such differences are shared openly and in good faith, it will always be admirable and helpful to all when mutual respect is shared, when members of each denomination or sect are prayerfully supportive of all others. This little book will possibly offend some Christians. Let us accept that and respond with such views as that represent our differences. And let all of our dialogues be shared in gracious love.
Dedication
Dedicated to Elaine, the inspiration for any worthwhile thing I have ever done.
Copyright ©
Charles David Poole (2019)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.
Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
Ordering Information:
Quantity sales: special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data
Poole, Charles David
Let’s Talk About the Faith
ISBN 9781645367772 (ePub e-Pub)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019937093
The main category of the book — Religion / Christianity / General
www.austinmacauley.com/us
First Published (2019)
Austin Macauley Publishers LLC
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New York, NY 10005
USA
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Acknowledgment
I want to thank my learned colleague, Rev. Dr. Merle Lehman, for his meaningful encouragement and sharing of insights.
I want to thank retired schoolteacher Marie Yamashita for her excellent contributions and continuous sharing that has been valuable in the extreme.
I want to thank Pualani Akaka of the United Church of Christ for her honesty in appraising this work. Her comments have added much to its value.
Great thanks to the faculty and classmates at the Candler School of Theology, Emory University, for awakening in me broad horizons of historical and systematic thought in all areas of pastoral concern. The content here is mine, but the ability to think beyond immediate concepts is a treasured gift.
I must express heartfelt thanks to the many laypersons whose views, arguments, and support have given me an urgency about expressing the content of this paper.
And I must express profound appreciation and gratitude to my long-suffering wife, Elaine, who has endured my preoccupation with this and all of my other writings.
Introduction
The twenty-first century dawns on a tumultuous world. The communist empire has cracked apart, and communism itself is discredited. The international political scene is not the only place of change and challenge. Books are written that would have us accept that this is a post-Christian age; yet there is a renaissance of Christian fundamentalism, Bible literalism, and charismatic practice that is sweeping our country. At the same time, Muslim fundamentalism is an energetic movement expressed through jihad or holy war.
This is a time for redefinitions. Old assumptions are being rethought. Old definitions are being set aside. There is a need for sharper focus on the meanings of all things. This is a time for the Christian movement to redefine its authenticity. These pages deal with the question of authenticity in the Christian movement today, as more pressing than growth in numbers or any other considerations.
Throughout its history, the Christian movement has been expressed in different ways at different times. In earliest times, the church was made up of participating synagogues and meetings in homes. During a somewhat later time, the strength of the church was in its monastic disciplines. Later, the church was best represented by great universities. At one time, the church was known in the lives of the people through majestic buildings and elaborate rituals. Most of us, in the present time, have known the church through the neighborhood institution and its denominational connection. We have lived in the time of the “church on the corner”.
The way in which people of the future will know the church is not yet known to us. These pages are not intended to predict with any accuracy what that will be. Whatever the future holds, however, the church will always need to examine its authenticity as representative of God on earth. These pages will attempt to facilitate such an examination for the present time.
Clergy earnestly try doing all that they have been taught. They emulate “successful” clergy they remember from childhood and youth. Denominational bureaucrats insist that they only need to apply themselves more diligently in the practices that used to be effective. Even so, church membership declines and churches are being closed in many places. “Business as usual” just does not meet the test of our times.
People in the pews have not enjoyed being part of a sinking ship any more than have the clergy. They have felt somehow let down by pastors who “just don’t seem to get the job done anymore”. They have rivaled their pastors in soulsearching and self-accusation. They have blamed themselves, their pastors, denominational leaders, history, economics, politics, and Satan. Some people have given up their affiliation with major denominations and have joined nondenominational fundamentalist and charismatic churches. Some have simply given up on the church entirely. In this period of history, as in all times before this time, we are called to witness faith. Our witness is a privileged responsibility. It does not include coercion, either by social pressure or by legislative enactments. It has to do with the way we live our lives.
I hope that these pages might evoke some dialogue, so that in patient and respectful sharing, people of faith might find in godly fellowship authenticity, wholeness, growth, direction, purpose, fulfillment, and joy.
God

The same yesterday, today, and always
Archaeologists and anthropologists have taught us that very primitive people were not atheists. Everywhere primitive people looked, they acknowledged the presence and activities of some kind of deity. Every rock was inhabited by a god. Every tree, every stream, every pond, the same. Reality was shot through with divine presences.
Forces and processes also were under the supervision of gods. Rain, wind, storms, floods, droughts were all driven by gods. So primitive people sought to appease the gods, to secure relief from natural troubles or to arrange prevention.
As people organized into settlements and became more agricultural than nomadic, they brought into their homes iconic representations of gods, whose dominions were increasingly generalized. The time came when a whole town or city had its own god. Through a process of conquest, some leaders extended their influence, extending at the same time the influence of their gods. And by incorporating the gods of the conquered people into the culture of the newcomers, a pantheon of gods came into being.
So we recognize a multitude of gods in some societies, such as the Sumerians and Egyptians. And we can see similarities as well as differences; for instance, the milky way was a serpent in the sky to the Sumerians, while it was a river in the sky to the Egyptians. And the story of the rivalry between Enki and Enlil in Sumeria, with the inclusion of their sister Nanhurshag, is found in Egypt as a rivalry between Osiris and Set, with the inclusion of their Sister Isis. And after some centuries, the Israelites adopted the story of the two brothers, leaving out the sister, and presenting a deadly rivalry between Cain and Abel. While the Sumerians and Egyptians told their stories about gods, the later Israelites presented the story as about two ordinary men.
After the Sumerian civilization had given